Found this yesterday on Myspace. I believe that this warrants its own post.
Thanks Vicky!

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 

Steelers wide receiver Sean Morey was having some trouble making an important decision, so he decided to rely on the advice of a trained professional.

That would be the guy who was fitting Morey for his Super Bowl ring.

"I was going back and forth between 12-and-a-half or 13, 12-and-a-half or 13," Morey said. "Finally, the guy said that 12-and-a-half was probably going to be a little tight, and that I had to account for the fact that the rings would be very heavy."

Morey and his teammates were fitted Tuesday at the Steelers' South Side practice facility for the rings they'll receive prior to opening the 2006 season Sept. 7 at Heinz Field against Miami.

Morey doesn't yet know what the rings will look like, "but that doesn't really matter," he added. "That's a formality.

"It's going to be great to actually put it on my finger and show my pop, show my family."

Morey's only concern is "one of the few errors ever made by the Rooneys, allowing Jerome (Bettis) to help design the ring."

Offensive tackle Max Starks will be wearing his size 18-and-a-half bauble on the middle finger of his right hand. His left hand is out because he's married, and the ring finger on his right hand is unavailable because it's been broken.

Starks doesn't have a problem with potentially having to extend the middle finger of his right hand in the event someone asks to see his Super Bowl ring.

"That'll be for all the people who doubted us," Starks said.

--------------------------------

Yes! OMG I love it. I really can't wait to see what the ring is going to look like. We still have a lot of waiting to do.

So yesterday was the first day I haven't posted on my blog since its conception. I always take weekends off, but yesterday I just completely forgot. And it's not because this blog isn't the most important thing in my life, because it basically is. But as of today, I am now E-Commerce Manager at my work. My boss moved on to bigger and better, and I was promoted. I am completely excited and honored, but until I can find a replacement for my old job, I'm going to be doing BOTH. eeek! 

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 

Several years ago, Jerome Bettis watched Emmitt Smith leave the Dallas Cowboys to sign with the historically pathetic Arizona Cardinals and predicted it would not go well.

"Before he even lines up," Bettis said, "he doesn't have a chance. I wouldn't do that. I'm not looking to just being a punching bag."

Instead of trying to squeeze the last dime out of football, Bettis took two consecutive and steep salary cuts to remain with the Steelers in a different role, first as a backup to Duce Staley and then to Willie Parker.

It is that marvelous 13-year career, 10 of them in Pittsburgh, and the joyful ending that brought Jerome Bettis his only Super Bowl ring and the Steelers their first Lombardi Trophy in 26 years that the Dapper Dan will celebrate next Sunday April 30 when they present the Bus as Sportsman of the Year.

Bettis, the NFL's fifth-leading career rusher, takes his place among Pittsburgh's long list of pro sports icons, from Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell to Mario Lemieux and a slew of Super Steelers before him.

Bettis ended his career with 13,662 yards, 10,571 with the Steelers. He will be a strong candidate to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he first becomes eligible in five years.

It also is appropriate that the Dapper Dan, the charity arm of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, honors Bettis because his work through his Bus Stops Here foundation has been tireless. He earned the 2001 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his community service.

His foundation has raised and distributed money for poor children. He issues the Jerome Bettis Friends Forever Scholarship and established the Joseph Gilbert Scholarship Fund at his alma mater, Detroit's McKenzie High School. He started Save Children Opportunity Recreation Education (SCORE) to refurbish inner city parks and playgrounds. He conducts an annual football camp in Detroit free for kids. An asthmatic since his teens, he has worked to help find a cure.

--------------------------------
I honestly have never heard of this so I had to look it up:

The annual Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year Dinner has become the preeminent social event on Western Pennsylvania's sports calendar. The first banquet was in November 1936, six months after Abrams christened the new venture. He and his friends sold 437 tickets at $5 apiece for that first dinner and they pulled in $800, which was donated to the DePaul Institute in Brookline. Such outstanding Pittsburgh sports celebrities as Art Rooney, Jock Sutherland and John Harris spoke at the first banquet. A two-fisted tradition of sports entertainment and charity giving was born.

The name? It came from an off-hand remark by George "Red" Lai, a restaurant owner in Pittsburgh and one of Abrams' friends. Abrams and his group wanted to attract membership from the sportsmen and businessmen of Pittsburgh, men who were always dapperly dressed. "We could call them Dapper Dans," Lai said.

In the decades that followed, Dapper Dan's impact on the sports community was remarkable. The group staged the annual Dapper Dan Open professional golf tournament and brought championship prizefights to Pittsburgh, including the Ezzard Charles-Jersey Joe Walcott heavyweight title fight at Forbes Field in 1951 and the only Pittsburgh appearance of an up-and-coming heavyweight named Cassius Clay in 1961. That was the same year Dapper Dan co-sponsored the PGA Championship at Oakmont. Western Pennsylvania sports fans saw the stars of tomorrow at the annual Roundball Classic high school basketball all-star game and the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic tournament. Dapper Dan also started and served as caretaker for the Pittsburgh Hall of Fame. All the while, the Sportsman of the Year award grew to be one of the nation's most prestigious honors, recognizing the local sports figure who shined the brightest light on Pittsburgh in the preceding year.

The 1990s saw Dapper Dan undergo dramatic and significant change. The club was re-christened as Dapper Dan Charities and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania was designated the primary beneficiary of the fundraising events. The money given to the Boys & Girls Clubs was earmarked for youth sports programs that would attract under-served urban youth into highly organized flag football, RBI baseball, basketball, hockey, field hockey, golf and wrestling leagues. The leagues currently serve more than 7,000 youth annually.

And, responding to the realities of the times, Dapper Dan decided to present both a Sportsman and a Sportswoman of the Year award at the annual dinner.

The mission has expanded far beyond what Abrams might have envisioned and the once-a-year sports dinner has spawned a year-long effort to raise money for the community's charity needs, but the philosophy has remained unchanged since inception in 1936: Give the ticket-buying public the biggest names in sports and the best in entertainment. "The rest," Abrams said, "comes easy."

---------------------------
Yay for Bussie!! I wonder if he is going to miss Pittsburgh? He's going to be living in Atlanta permanently now, right?

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Editor & Publisher reported that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be a guest at this year's White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29 at the Washington Hilton.

Other non-journalist invitees include Anna Kournikova, Alex Trebek, rap star/actor Ludacris and James Denton of "Desperate Housewives."

----------------------------

This is like the most important celebrity event of the year in DC. According to Slate:

Saturday is the biggest social event of the year for political Washington: the Bloomberg after-party. Technically the event, formerly hosted by Vanity Fair, is a mere appendage to the evening's White House Correspondents Association Dinner, an annual black-tie affair attended by President Bush, much of the Cabinet and congressional leadership, and a smattering of Hollywood types. But the real sign of Washington status is whether you can score an invitation to the more exclusive Bloomberg party. The invitation itself—this year's is green ink on thick Lucite—is the Washington equivalent of Willy Wonka's golden ticket. It entitles you to stand in line outside the newly refurbished Macedonian Embassy Saturday night in Kalorama with the rest of the chosen people—and several others hoping to talk their way in.

----------------------------

Ben, please --- get a haircut. 

From ThePittsburghChannel.com

While Hines Ward made a much publicized trip to his native Korea, Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive lineman Max Starks quietly visited Afghanistan and some of the world's other hot spots.

Starks said he found a whole new world during his 12-day USO tour.

He visited U.S. military posts in Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.

"Just to get that experience and see what our troops go through the hardships, they put themselves through, and the day-to-day dangers they put themselves in front of to protect our civil liberties -- I think of that as an awesome thing. I look at it as my opportunity to thank them for what they are doing for us," said Starks.

"I know I felt proud to be an American going to every single base and just the reception that we got and the host of Steelers fans is truly, bar none, it's truly a worldwide recognized name -- the Pittsburgh Steelers," said Starks.

During one stop in Kosovo, Starks met a group of apache chopper pilots from Pennsylvania. The pilots were not shy about showing their Steelers pride to friend or foe.

"It was on the belly pan, so when they do fly-aways you can see the Steelers emblem on the bottom of the apache and when they gave me the opportunity they said 'Max, we want you to sign this,'" said Starks.

Starks said he returned from this 12-day journey a changed man.

"They say football is a 60-minute war. That is definitely not true and at the end of the day my life is not going to be at risk from one bad play as opposed to them -- if they mess up once it could potentially cost them their lives," said Starks.

Starks did not make this journey alone. He traveled with Seattle defensive end, Bryce Fisher.

---------------------------

I think that it's really awesome of Max to go to Afghanistan to support our troops like that and use his fame for something positive. Actually, it makes me feel bad that I haven't done anything for them. Does anybody know anyone who is in the war? I live in one of the biggest military cities and I don't really know anyone.

 I think this website is cool. Check it out:
America Supports You

Please feel free to post any other websites of interest as well! 

p.s. What did Max and Bryce talk about the whole time? Hmm.